Bicycling is among my passions, one of the ways I connect to the world, my body, my being. The rhythm of riding, the cyclical nature of cycling, of spinning the crank arms, to spin a cogset, to spin the chain, so that the wheels spin. Round and round and round in a circle game…the movement and frame of mind parallels a meditation practice known as Vipassana, the intention of which is to focus entirely on the physical aspect of a task. In China’s vast deserts, I could cycle for hour upon hour, my connection between bicycle, body and the endless desert interrupted only occasionally by a passing vehicle.
Traversing China by bicycle marked my first awareness of the music I’d play in my mind while cycling. I’d settle into a rhythm, legs pumping, lungs breathing, heart beating, and some refrain from a song would rise into my consciousnes, or a few bars of melody. Repeating over and over and over, like the pedals, like my legs, like my lungs, like my heart. I’d sink into the rhythms and find a stillness in mind, a oneness with everything. Long before I began listening to mantras, I realised I was creating them. Pedalling across the desert became a meditation spanning hour upon hour, mile upon mile.
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